Pages

Friday, 29 November 2013

I have now caught up with the task of publishing my poetry as e-books on scribd.com. The latest collection is number 3 and brings things right up to date. I have a few very new ones which have been posted in this blog; and I have a large number of song lyrics written 1960 - 1980. I may at some stage try to get these included in a collection but I am not worried about these, most of the better lyrics found their way into volume 1.

Tuesday, 26 November 2013

I painted a winter scene last week and posted it in my art blog, the weather this week has been very cold and beginning to get quite wintry which has inspired the following new poem. But first let me include an image of the new painting:-

I wonder if it brings forth any of the feelings which it did in me and resulted in this poem? It is not an original in the sense that It is a very close copy (not something I often do) of a work by a gloucester artist. I saw a greeting card in a shop in Winchcombe and fell in love with it. I had to try to get the same feelings down on to paper. I used pastels.

And here is the poem:-

THE SEASONS by John Dyhouse

We ride the earth around the sun
A journey we all share
As winter comes I think about,
the end of another year

A new beginning beckons
Look forward tho' you fear.
Spring is like a flower which,
Blooms to bring another year.

In the fullness of this journey
That brings us all so near,
Summer is the apex,
Applaud another year.

Autumn is the season
When dreams become as one.
Rise up and let us dance,
In the last rays of the sun.

And so complete the circle
We always persevere,
The Seasons ever come and go,
Marking out another year.

Something I have just started doing is to record my new poetry and post onto the internet - I am using a site called SoundCloud at present but there is a limit to what can be stored for free and so I may change to some other site in the near future. But, it does allow playlists (albums by any other name) and sounds/tracks can be embedded into sites like this blog.

Listen to my lilting tones read this poem:-

I would love to know what you think of the idea of reading the poetry. I shall be looking at much of my back catalogue and recording as much as I can.

Monday, 18 November 2013

This is my third poem from what I am calling a mechanical poetry route.

I have used a simple poetry generator to create a poem, I seeded the app with a few words and took the result as a "starter for ten"; from this particular generator, the resulting poem was about ten short lines but as previously I decided that I wanted more. I like to tell a story in my poems not just leave the reader wanting more.

So taking a phrase at a time, and sometimes repositioning them I used a thesaurus and a rhyming dictionary to extend and enhance the poem. All poets edit their work several times as a matter of course, what I don't know is how many use help from dictionaries and thesauri during this process. I do believe that these poems are my own work. I simply get a little help in that first step which gives me a little kick and helps me to get over a little writers' block.

So here is the latest:-

Breaking Dawn.

I awake afraid to face the dawn.

Turning in my bed, toward the light

Leaking from a curtained widow,

I feel a dreadful, haunting fright.

A golden sun precedes the day,

But with what terrors shall I compete?

Will my nightmares yet come to pass.

I hide my head beneath the sheet.

My fantasies return each night,

In conspicuous, lucid clarity,

I relive them all within my sleep

In unwelcome perpetuity

I disavow their appearances

But shivering with trepidation

I know that I will only fail

It’s cold, so cold, it’s devastation

My lifeline is your happy face

It brings me warmth and calms my fears

you are so much my opposite

Yet your presence hides unwelcome cares

I thought I had finished but seeing it written down again here, I think that last verse should have been extended into at least two stanzas. It seems that things are coming out too quickly. I will leave it here however as a work-in-progress and make another post when I have edited/added more to complete it.

Monday, 11 November 2013

I came across this new magazine called Poetry Nook on Twitter, very new with only two issues published but it is asking for submissions and does not mind previously published material. Maybe this will change as it becomes established?

Read issue 2 (October 2013) of Poetry Nook on Calameo, Calameo in itself is a new find for me. It Looks as though it is free to publish (in many formats) any books / magazines, although there is of course a paid level which offers more for "professional writers".

The embedded reader does not seem to be a useful as Scribd (see earlier post) but this is only my first attempt at usiing it and I may need to tweak it?